NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 
179 
I have generally discovered the presence of a toad by seeing his eye shining in a 
dark corner, before I could distinguish his body from the soil surrounding him. 
Mr. Toad is ugly no doubt, but he is a “ dear chappie ” for all that, and a not 
inconsiderable factor in the economy of Nature. 
Montreux, Giles A. Daubeny. 
May 27, 1901. 
The “Venomous” Toad. — In reply to R. F. Martineau, with regard to 
birds being poisoned by eating toads, I may mention that in Step’s “ By Vocal 
Woods and Waters,” there is a chapter called “ About n>y Toads,” in which the 
author recounts the bad effects on a young jay in his possession from eating young 
toads, and also the case of a tame heron having died from swallowing a toad, 
although the reptile was vomited almost as soon as swallowed. 
I once saw a hedgehog make a meal of a toad in my garden without any bad 
after effects, but a puppy which foolishly took a toad in his mouth dropped it at 
once with a wild yelp, and the blisters on his lips and tongue lasted for several 
days, interfering with his feeding considerably. 
Normanton, Chas. Foran. 
Elm Grove, Southsea. 
Adders Swallowing Young (p. 75). — Although I have nothing very 
practical to add to this subject perhaps I may be allowed the following remarks. 
I have long been familiar with the assertion that these reptiles permit their young 
to take refuge within their bodies, but I have never come across anything which 
I could regard as perfectly trustworthy information. Mr. Westell undoubtedly 
has very good reason for accepting the bond fides of the persons he quotes, still, 
without questioning the veracity, I think the second instance he quotes seems a 
little highly coloured — at least it appears so to me. Now, speaking physio- 
logically, if it were the habit of the adder to admit its young down its throat in 
times of danger, one would expect to find that Nature had provided a pouch or 
receptacle to receive them, just as is the case with the opossum, which has been 
quoted, the kangaroo, and other pouch-bearing animals. To suppose that the 
young adders enter the stomach of the parent, to be treated to a bath of digestive 
juice, appears unreasonable. But my object in writing is principally to draw 
attention to the substantial reward which has long been, and, I believe, still is, 
offered by the Field for absolute proof of the fact. The conditions are, as I 
understand them, that when an adder has been actually seen to swallow her young 
it must be killed, a ligature placed securely around the throat to prevent the 
young ones escaping, and the dead body packed with grass in a wood box, and 
sent at once to the Field office, with full particulars. Seeing that adders are by 
no means rare in some parts of the country, it has often been a matter of some 
surprise to me that this evidence has not been forthcoming, as it would at once 
place the matter beyond all dispute. The snake-catcher of the New Forest has 
also occurred to me as a likely person to supply such evidence, especially as the 
reward would probably be much appreciated by him. Doubtless he would gladly 
do so if the matter were brought to his knowledge. 
Askew Briage Road, Claude St. John. 
Gornal IVood, Dudley. 
"Wasps’ Nest. — At the Old Hall, Stackhouse, a wasps’ nest has been built 
in a corner of the kitchen window, up against the glass. It is quite easy to watch 
alt the internal economy of the nest and the progress of the rearing of the brood. 
The formation of the nest, from the earliest beginnings of the hybernated queen 
to the completion and roofing with concentric layers of paper, has been watched 
by the family with great interest. The insects are quite as unconscious of super- 
vision as are the fish in an aquarium. Wasps’ nests are very numerous this year in 
this neighbourhood. 
Settle, Craven, Addison Crofton. 
July 13, 1901. 
Foxglove. — A curious monstrosity in the common foxglove. Digitalis 
purpurea (white variety), is to be seen in the garden of the Old Hall, Stackhouse. 
When the plants began to bloom, and when two flowers had opened at the bottom 
of the raceme, one large bell was seen at the top which developed to about twice 
the size of the other. While the succeeding flowers on the stem are almost 
